Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
I was Taken with being a teacher ..until I hit a pupil DUP minister backed waste disposal firm’s planning plea Card work pays off for our Ethan
Neeson punched teen who pulled knife on him
A FORMER DUP minister supported arc21 in their appeal against Mark H Durkan’s refusal of plans for a contentious waste incinerator.
The Department for Infrastructure has been criticised heavily for approving the plant at Hightown Quarry in Mallusk, Co Antrim, while no minister is in place.
But the Department for Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs backed arc21’s case when it was led by the DUP’S Michelle Mcilveen.
A DAERA spokesperson said: “The department, with the approval of its then minister, supported the case for planning permission to be granted to the arc21 project – the open hearing was held in October 2016.
“We recognise the importance of the residual waste treatment project and that it has the potential to support delivery of waste management policy.
“In particular, that it can contribute to achievement of statutory landfill diversion and recycling targets.” A NINE-YEAR-OLD schoolboy has received almost 2,000 birthday cards from around the world following a social media campaign.
Ethan Mcclean’s parents Andy and Yvette started the drive to get as many as possible sent to their son who has Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, a severe musclewasting condition.
The couple, from Ballymena, Co Antrim, wanted to show him the postman can deliver good news.
Yvette said: “We’re delighted to have had so much support from all over the world. We really wanted to make this a special birthday.” HOLLYWOOD star Liam Neeson has revealed he ended up punching a child who threatened him with a knife while he was training as a teacher.
The 65-year-old is believed to have worked at the now-closed St Mary’s College, in Fenham, Newcastle, England, before joining the Belfast Lyric Players’ Theatre in 1976.
But in an interview which recently resurfaced online, Neeson, fron Ballymena, Co Antrim, said his “worst day” as a teacher came when he punched the 15-year-old who faced him down with a blade.
The Taken star told his US interviewers: “He was a big guy too, about 15 years of age.
“I had to punch him and then I was reprimanded for hitting the kid.
“There were always discipline problems, getting them to settle down before you can start to teach them.
“This particular kid did not want to settle down, he wanted to disrupt the whole class. So I went over to him and asked him to leave the classroom and stand outside. “The next thing he pulled a knife on me.
“My reaction was to punch him, which I shouldn’t have done but I felt threatened.”
The actor, who was nominated for an Oscar for his performance in Schindler’s List, also spoke of his admiration for teachers, a profession which his two sisters have worked in for decades.